--- title: U.S. Citizen Could Face Death Penalty in Vietnam description: Michael Nguyen, a father of four, will be tried on charges of "attempting to overthrow the state." His family says he is innocent. canonical: https://time.com/5604486/michael-nyugen-us-vietnam-death-penalty/ author: Hillary Leung article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-06-11T08:50:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T23:43:01.231Z article:section: World og:title: A U.S. Citizen Could Be Facing the Death Penalty in Vietnam og:description: Michael Nguyen will be put on trial for "attempting to overthrow the state" og:url: https://time.com/5604486/michael-nyugen-us-vietnam-death-penalty/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a3847f17377d80f/69894b0b22fb851ee9e2861e/gettyimages-164849299.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: A prisoner behind bars with hands cuffed og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A U.S. Citizen Could Be Facing the Death Penalty in Vietnam twitter:description: Michael Nguyen will be put on trial for "attempting to overthrow the state" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a3847f17377d80f/69894b0b22fb851ee9e2861e/gettyimages-164849299.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A U.S. Citizen Detained in Vietnam Could Face the Death Penalty for Subversion by [Hillary Leung](/author/hillary-leung/) ## Hillary Leung Jun 11, 2019 8:50 AM CUT  Getty Images by [Hillary Leung](/author/hillary-leung/) ## Hillary Leung Jun 11, 2019 8:50 AM CUT A U.S. citizen, detained in Vietnam on charges of “attempting to overthrow the state,” is [expected to face trial](https://news.yahoo.com/us-man-face-death-penalty-trial-vietnam-034000653.html "undefined") at the end of this month and could be sentenced to death if found guilty, Agence France-Press (AFP) reports. Michael Nguyen has been held in Vietnam since July last year. He was traveling with two activists, both of whom were also arrested. His family, who live in the U.S., say Nguyen is innocent and not involved with any dissident groups. The father of four daughters left Vietnam in 1975 during the communist takeover and fled to the U.S. “He is severely disadvantaged and unable to properly defend against any accusations against him,” said a family statement cited by AFP. The family added that he has been denied access to lawyers. His trial is reportedly set for June 24 to 25 in Ho Chi Minh City. In February, his wife Helen Nguyen [attended](https://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/address-02062019174000.html "undefined") the State of the Union address in Washington D.C. in the hope of raising awareness about her husband’s detention. Vietnam, a one-party communist state, has intensified its crackdown on dissidents since a [change in leadership](http://time.com/4284711/vietnam-approves-new-prime-minister-to-complete-leadership-trio/ "undefined") three years ago. At least 128 prisoners of conscience are currently [being held](https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/05/viet-nam-surge-number-prisoners-conscience-new-research-shows/ "undefined") by the Vietnamese government, according to Amnesty International. Those detained include lawyers, human right defenders and pro-democracy campaigners. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5604486/michael-nyugen-us-vietnam-death-penalty/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5604486/michael-nyugen-us-vietnam-death-penalty/"},"headline":"A U.S. Citizen Detained in Vietnam Could Face the Death Penalty for Subversion","datePublished":"2019-06-11T08:50:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T23:43:01.231Z","description":"Michael Nguyen has been held in Vietnam since July last year.","url":"https://time.com/5604486/michael-nyugen-us-vietnam-death-penalty/","keywords":["Vietnam","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a3847f17377d80f/69894b0b22fb851ee9e2861e/gettyimages-164849299.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Hillary Leung","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/hillary-leung/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a3847f17377d80f/69894b0b22fb851ee9e2861e/gettyimages-164849299.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A prisoner behind bars with hands cuffed","caption":"A prisoner behind bars with hands cuffed","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/vietnam/","name":"Vietnam"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5604486/michael-nyugen-us-vietnam-death-penalty/","name":"A U.S. Citizen Detained in Vietnam Could Face the Death Penalty for Subversion"}}]}] ```